DD is freezing at swim lessons - ideas?

[TwoBees]

DD absolutely freezes at her swim lessons (indoor pool). She is extremely skinny with no body fat. Her lips, fingers, and toes turn blue. She wants to swim better and I want her to learn to swim better, so we have tried a few shortie wetsuits but nothing is working so far. They are too baggy on her to do any good. Any suggestions? I would really like her to continue swimming but she is cold and usually wants to end the lesson early.

[Reader]

We put my really thin DS in a full body wetsuit and it helped. He had one this thickness (don't see the exact one). We live near cold ocean water so it wasn't bought just for swim lessons it did keep him from turning blue and helped him enjoy the lessons more.

http://www.amazon.com/ONeill-Wetsuits-Youth-Reactor-Pacific/dp/B0049AXOXC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1444527591&sr=8-3&keywords=oneill+wetsuit

[TwoBees]

We put my really thin DS in a full body wetsuit and it helped. He had one this thickness (don't see the exact one). We live near cold ocean water so it wasn't bought just for swim lessons it did keep him from turning blue and helped him enjoy the lessons more.

http://www.amazon.com/ONeill-Wetsuits-Youth-Reactor-Pacific/dp/B0049AXOXC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1444527591&sr=8-3&keywords=oneill+wetsuit

Based on their size chart, she would be a toddler/youth size 1 by weight and a 3 by height. :(

[Reader]

How old is she? My string bean grew out of his 3T one at age 5, and we bought it when he was 4. I found the actual wetsuit I bought him. Thank goodness I have my Amazon order history to function as my memory. He's very low on the height & weight chart, but that's another post.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002MA0UA6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

[abh5e8]

Find a heated pool. Seriously, it makes all the difference.

[georgiegirl]

How old? We have a heated rec pool at our YMCA for preschool lessons and the lowest level school age lessons. By the time they are in the (cold) lap pool, the usually swim enough to keep warm.

[PZMommy]

Try a different pool. Our pool at the Y keeps the water super warm, like 78 degrees. I felt like I was taking a bath when I did the mommy and me swim lessons,

[specialp]

Find a heated pool. Seriously, it makes all the difference.

:yeahthat: Our swim coach is at a heated indoor pool throughout the year. Mine complain as soon as they get out of the water, but before and during is no issue.

[TwoBees]

It's the Y, and I had assumed the pool is heated. I haven't actually been in it myself, I'm going to call tomorrow and verify. None of the other kids are cold though.

[Rainbows&Roses]

Try a different pool. Our pool at the Y keeps the water super warm, like 78 degrees. I felt like I was taking a bath when I did the mommy and me swim lessons,

Seventy eight is actually pretty cold.

Our swim school:
Our teaching pool is heated to 93°F to ensure a comfortable and enjoyable swimming environment. Our lap pool is heated to 83°F for comfortable lap swimming.

[PZMommy]

Seventy eight is actually pretty cold.

Our swim school:
Our teaching pool is heated to 93°F to ensure a comfortable and enjoyable swimming environment. Our lap pool is heated to 83°F for comfortable lap swimming.

I must have read the board wrong then, because the water is super warm. My DS is skin and bones, and gets cold easily, but stays quite warm at the Y pool.

[WatchingThemGrow]

DS had the same issue. We had to take lessons at a therapy pool. A warmbelly wetsuit gets him through a few months is winter swim team but he really does prefer summer swim league.


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[Snow mom]

It's the Y, and I had assumed the pool is heated. I haven't actually been in it myself, I'm going to call tomorrow and verify. None of the other kids are cold though.

The pool almost certainly is heated (e.g., warmer than air temp) but you lose body heat something like 40% faster in water than air so it matters what it is heated to. There is probably a board in the pool area where the lifeguards update the pool info including current temperature. We do lessons at a senior center and the water is in the low 80s (which is warm for a lap pool) and still feels chilly. I'd find out what the temp at the y is and then look for a new pool that is 10 degrees warmer. Their pool isn't working for her.

[Simon]

Find a heated pool. Seriously, it makes all the difference.

Yes, we had to find a heated pool for lessons! One of our local elementary schools heats their pool to 92 and we also found a local sports club that has a warm pool they use for an arthritis program aimed at seniors but they have open swim in their pool and private swim lessons are held there. It doesn't matter if all the other kids are fine in the water. A kid without body fat just needs warmer water. Any indoor pool will be heated a little, but your Dd needs more than the average kid.
We have shorty wet suits too and they worked once we found one that didn't gap (at age 4 my Ds was in a 2T) but not as well as a heated pool and then gaining weight. You could try using a swim cap with one of those hand warmer packs activated inside.

[bcafe]

We have 2 pools in our club. One is the lap pool and it is kept cooler for the lap swimmers and the other one is the "therapy" pool. It is almost too warm, but that is where the little kids have their lessons. The water aerobics folks (mostly elderly) use the therapy pool too. Lap pools that are kept too warm are terrible for serious swimmers. I just can't get in a good swim if the water is too warm.

[StantonHyde]

We have a diving place that offers swim lessons in their heated pool. A good lap swimming pool is 80 degrees or less--otherwise you get too hot. You need a therapy pool or a pool where elderly people take swim aerobics or something.

For my kids--I got the shorty wetsuits and those helped a lot. Or try the full wetsuit. You need to buy for height more than weight.

[wellyes]

Is she in the water the whole time? I once had lessons where the kids all sat on the side and waiting for their "turn" to go in, one by one. What an awful idea!

If the pool is too cool, a different pool might be the best / only solution.

[TwoBees]

Thanks everyone. I really thought it was her, not the pool. But I'm going to call the Y and other pools in the area and inquire about the water temp. The Y where she took lessons when she was a toddler had two pools; I recall that she was cold but not this cold. We have since moved so that Y isn't an option. :(

The kids stay in the water at the wall while they are waiting their turn. So they are in the water but not necessarily moving all the time.

[KrisM]

The place DS2 goes to heats their pool to 90 deg. No complaints on cold from him, and he's often cold when swimming at the gym's outdoor pool, even on hot summer days.

[Momit]

DS did swim lessons at a franchise swim school with a pool that was heated to 90 degrees.

[div_0305]

Yes, go to a place with the warmest pool temp!

[TwoBees]

I checked with the Y this morning, and the pool is typically 86 degrees, although it fluctuates between 85 and 87 degrees. The air temp is kept 4 degrees cooler. The Y that is a little farther away is the same. The aquatics director said that some of the little kids and elderly members do tend to get colder. Would you consider this cold?

ETA: I called a third Y, which is farther from us but the facility is much newer than the other two. Their pool is 88 degrees.

[gymnbomb]

I checked with the Y this morning, and the pool is typically 86 degrees, although it fluctuates between 85 and 87 degrees. The air temp is kept 4 degrees cooler. The Y that is a little farther away is the same. The aquatics director said that some of the little kids and elderly members do tend to get colder. Would you consider this cold?

ETA: I called a third Y, which is farther from us but the facility is much newer than the other two. Their pool is 88 degrees.

I am someone who gets cold very easily and hates cold pools/water. I swam in my FIL's pool this summer and it was 88 degrees. I (and my SIL, MIL, nieces, etc.) thought it was wonderful. FIL thought it was too warm. However, this was an outdoor pool on a hot day, so I do not know how that compares to an indoor pool's desired temperature.

[Simon]

You could try an open swim at the third Y to see how she does, but IME we needed a pool over 90 degrees to make is work without a wet suit. I would google warm water therapy pool and your area, then call and ask about lessons or ask if they know of a place.